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June 1, 2018

7 private firms in race to supply ammunition to the Army

The Indian Armyis evaluating the technical bids submitted by 7 private
sector companies, including 2 companies from Hyderabad—HBL Power Systems
Ltd and Premier Explosives Ltd—to supply different types of ammunition,
sources with direct knowledge of the procurement process said on
Thursday.

The sources told TOI that the Indian Army had given the
Request for Proposal (RFP) to the seven companies earlier this year.
The technical evaluation of the bids was ongoing, the sources said.

“The Indian Army needs to
replace the ammunition deemed to be too old for use in combat
situations. So far, the army was importing the ammunition it needed from
overseas. The foreign firms usually refurbish old ammunition and sell
it to our army. Refurbishing could include replacing the propellant in
the ammunition. Rarely, however, do the suppliers from overseas supply
new ammunition because such an exercise involves high cost,” the sources
said.

Apart from the possibility that the vendors from overseas
could be supplying refurbished ammunition, the army was also seized of
the fact that the government was promoting the manufacturing sector in
the defence space.

“The government’s Make in India also played a
major role in the army’s decision to look for local players to supply
the ammunition, though the local industry could have foreign companies
as their technology partners,” the sources said.

The sources said
that the army was aware of the fact that local industry did not have
the technical wherewithal to manufacture the ammunition in India, and
therefore needed partners who could bring such expertise to India.

The
seven companies that had submitted their bids include Saarloha, a
company owned by the Kalyani group of Pune, Maharashtra, AAN Engineering
Industries Ltd, a subsidiary of Rico Auto Industries Ltd, Economic
Explosives Ltd, a part of Solar Industries India Ltd of Nagpur,
Maharashtra, Mahindra Defence Systems Ltd of the Mahindra group, Bharat
Forge of the Kalyani group and HFCL.

While Saarloha has Arsenal
J.S. Co of Bulgaria as its OEM (original equipment manufacturer) as its
partner, EEL’s partner is MSM of Slovakia, and AAN Engineering’s partner
is SFTE Spetstechno Export of Ukraine. The three companies have bid for
the supply of 30mm HEI and HET.

EEL has also partnered with the
Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) for the supply of
122 mm FR RKT. Other bidders for the 122 mm FR RKT include Mahindra
Defence Systems Ltd, which has MSM of Slovakia as its OEM, HBL Power
Systems Ltd of Malakpet, Hyderabad, Telangana State, which has EdePro of
Belgrade, Serbia as its partner.

Premier Explosives Ltd of
Secunderabad has partnered with Simmel Difesa Nexter Systems SA of
France for the supply of BMCS HZ & LZ ammunition. The other bidder
in this category is EEL, which has partnered with DRDO.

AAN,
Bharat Forge and HFCL had bid for the supply of electronic fuses. The
army has cancelled the bids for the 125mm FSAPDS, the sources said.